dollahholla
New member
Hi guys, i'm new to this forum. Id like to know your experiences on learning to mix. I learned with tutorial videos but my mixing is not that great, therefore I really want to learn more stuff !
How did you learn to mix?
- Thread starter dollahholla
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I'mNoGuru
New member
Agreed. I actually turn down the volume for the most part during mixdown. When I have a mix locked I turn up the volume and make minor adjustments; re-check at lower level... Rinse, repeat.
Ametrine
Audible Chocolate
All this.
I also learned by just listening to a ton of music and getting a sense of what a balanced mix felt and sounded like. Reference tracks can be your best friend at times because when you work on something for so long, you begin to lose objectivity to its overall quality.
But taking breaks in between at times and listening to other music is a nice little way to refresh your ears. Then when you start working on your track again, you'll have an idea of general things you should look out for.
TimHeroic
TimHeroic
I started learning how to mix about 5 years ago, and still learning new things every day. When I started I found Youtube tutorials very helpful, online articles on mixing, etc. Also I asked local music producers and engineers if I could join them in their studio while they would work on their projects, they thought me all the basics. Reference tracks helped.
And yes. In combination with all this, practice, practice, practice and practice some more.
Good luck and have fun!
And yes. In combination with all this, practice, practice, practice and practice some more.
Good luck and have fun!
In my case I kind of did not learn to mix until I had grasped the basic concepts of the monitoring process. The monitoring process was for me the learning process I had to go through in order to be able understand what I was doing when I was mixing. 
Then after that it kind of became a more creative process for me, I wanted not only to master mixing but mastering as well.
Then after that it kind of became a more creative process for me, I wanted not only to master mixing but mastering as well.
Mixing is about some technical knowledge (learning to use a wide range of audio processors as needed), some musical background (for example, knowing where to position the different instruments, where is it required to do a fade-in, fade-out etc.), and mostly experience (practice, practice, practice).
I remember when I first started.. my first mix was quite dull, funny, and overall amateur. The more mixes I did + the more new audio processors I learned to master (like - compressors, noise gates, eqs, reverbs, delay, etc..), the better each mix became. And I did it with very cheap hardware.
My first good mix was for a heavy metal band of a friend of mine. We recorded this using a Soundblaster Live (Emu-101k), in the small guard post in which I worked as a security guard. I brought my computer with me to this post, and at first, the guitarist came to record his line and he brought the drums track (which they recorded in a very amateur and very poor quality studio), and we were sitting there for couple hours and recorded him. Then the other day he brought all the other band members - vocalist, keyboard player, bass guitar, and they were there in my guard post for several hours recording their tracks, which I later mixed back at home.
If you want to hear the way this mix came out, and bare in mind this mix is from somewhere around 2003-2004, you can hear it here: Welcome to the new Myspace!
After this first "good" mix, I just continued to work from there. practice more and more mixes, getting to work with more bands, and improving the quality of your mixes. Here is an example of a later mix I did for a Metal band: Welcome to the new Myspace! (this one is from around 2005, you can hear the difference?).
So basically its all about practice and knowledge. The more you do it, the better you become.
I find that the most challenging part about mixing is taking a creation that was recorded in poor conditions, using poor equipement, and turning it into a great sounding mix. This is what makes you a realy, realy, good mixing engineer. It's not THAT difficult to produce a high quality mix that was recorded in hollywood studios with microphones and gear that costs 50,000$. The real challenge is doing it with home equipement that costs only a couple hundred bucks.
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chris carter
New member
Honeslty, experience experience experience. There's generally no substitute. I learned to mix out of absolute necessity because when I got started it was very difficult to send sessions to a mix engineer outside of the area you lived. At the time, I lived in Oakland, CA and there weren't a lot of options like in L.A. or NY. Today you can have anyone, anywhere, mix your stuff for you, for far less money than it used to cost. Eventually I got good at mixing my own stuff and people started to ask me to mix their stuff. This was NOT an overnight process - it was years and years. Now I predominantly mix other people's stuff.
FinishYourTrack
New member
Time, patience, practice, critical listening & repeat.
RyanLundyMusic
New member
Still learning how to mix, but a basic audio recording/engineering school, credible sources on the internet, practice, knowing reference audio has all helped me learn.
Everyone is different and it's all depends on how they learn and their capabilities.
I tried teaching myself how to mix and used video tutorials but felt it lacked the teacher/ student guidance for me, no matter how many times I watched the clip, I just wasn't getting the sound I wanted and because I didn't have someone TELLING me your levels are wrong/ right, you're not using enough buses or sends are wrongs etc I was worried that I was picking up bad habits with each of my tracks.
I'm the sort of person that I physically need to be there and watch someone, what they are doing and then imitate or at least be able to ask questions and get answers quick which again video tutorials lack.
For me as a career options, I also wanted to know how to use the console for mixing which my uni decided not to teach us in detail (considering it was a Commerical Music course). So in my case, to perfect what I've learnt I decided to do a one on one music tech diploma course with London AMP as I didn't want to be in a class of 10 people trying to jump over each other to see the AUX knobs.
Practice does make perfect but you also need to know where you are going wrong and if you can recognise and rectify it yourself and then carry on with what you're doing but if you need guidance from a professional, then either do work experience or go to a music production school.
Hope this helps.
I tried teaching myself how to mix and used video tutorials but felt it lacked the teacher/ student guidance for me, no matter how many times I watched the clip, I just wasn't getting the sound I wanted and because I didn't have someone TELLING me your levels are wrong/ right, you're not using enough buses or sends are wrongs etc I was worried that I was picking up bad habits with each of my tracks.
I'm the sort of person that I physically need to be there and watch someone, what they are doing and then imitate or at least be able to ask questions and get answers quick which again video tutorials lack.
For me as a career options, I also wanted to know how to use the console for mixing which my uni decided not to teach us in detail (considering it was a Commerical Music course). So in my case, to perfect what I've learnt I decided to do a one on one music tech diploma course with London AMP as I didn't want to be in a class of 10 people trying to jump over each other to see the AUX knobs.
Practice does make perfect but you also need to know where you are going wrong and if you can recognise and rectify it yourself and then carry on with what you're doing but if you need guidance from a professional, then either do work experience or go to a music production school.
Hope this helps.
Underminded
New member
First of all I do not consider myself an expert. I have been writing and producing for about four years now and I have learned A LOT in just that amount of time.
There is no right and wrong way for doing this. The best option is to try EVERYTHING. If you have the money to attend a school for this, try a few courses and continue if you like it. Never force yourself to do anything your energy pulls you away from. At the same time, don't feel pressured if you miss out on a couple opportunities......at the same time, do not limit yourself.
Personally, I study physics at university level and I do not regret it with regards to my music. It has given me a decent understanding on how sound works and how it interacts with our ears. I do not believe everyone who mixes should be a physicist however, they should all have a basic understanding of how sound works. It has definitely helped me to improve my mixes and explain to people why I am doing something that seems detrimental to their song.
The most important piece of advice I can give to anybody starting out in mixing is:
How you create or modify sound DOES NOT MATTER (within the law of course :3).
Focus on how it interacts with PEOPLE. All that matters is what hits your ear drum and how it is perceived. I honestly wished someone told me about psyco-acoustics a while back. After reading about it, the way I approached mixing and mastering totally changed. Just remember people are your targets with music and what you hear is all in your brain. Manipulating the way people think using sound is why music works
. You will be very surprised with what you can do with just an EQ and a compressor. Never underestimate those two tools and never think that you need the best equipment to make amazing music. I have seen people do great recordings with a phone...seriously.
I am also a VERY novice drummer, pianist and guitarist. I was never enthusiastic to practice with my instruments. Learning an instrument is great and very useful, but not required. A little music theory is also good to know. Timing and tuning matters above all in most cases. I say so very loosely however, as you need not go by the book. Basically, if it feels good, it IS good. Don't over compensate.
Finally, as a producer I liked to experiment a lot. I'd say half the time I end up with garbage but I have a rule that I think anyone with hard drive space should live by: Never Delete. Two years down the line I have found old projects I sampled to make a totally different beat. Or perhaps I will never appreciate the sound, but another artiste will come along and embrace it. Its fun to mess around with weird sounds especially when you end up in these "ruts" as a producer, unable to create anything satisfactory. Me and a colleague of mine made a beat by recording an old Yamaha keyboard through an akg dynamic mic while I ate an apple. Do unexpected things; that's what the industry expects but its not what people tell you. Over time you will develop your sound not just as a producer but a sound engineer. Its also important to learn about your equipment and read up on as much as you can relating to the field. Don't be scared to make mistakes though...sometimes being "wrong" will result in something that sounds epic.
And yes, yes, practice, practice, practice. To be honest I hardly think of practicing when I am making music with my friends or mixing a song for another artiste. When you are having fun, you forget that you are working.
(PS. Turn your volume down...your ears are so precious. Mastering especially requires a sensitive ear. I can mix songs at 2% volume that others can't even hear. So of course it helps to have a quiet place to mix whenever possible.)
Happy mixing
There is no right and wrong way for doing this. The best option is to try EVERYTHING. If you have the money to attend a school for this, try a few courses and continue if you like it. Never force yourself to do anything your energy pulls you away from. At the same time, don't feel pressured if you miss out on a couple opportunities......at the same time, do not limit yourself.
Personally, I study physics at university level and I do not regret it with regards to my music. It has given me a decent understanding on how sound works and how it interacts with our ears. I do not believe everyone who mixes should be a physicist however, they should all have a basic understanding of how sound works. It has definitely helped me to improve my mixes and explain to people why I am doing something that seems detrimental to their song.
The most important piece of advice I can give to anybody starting out in mixing is:
How you create or modify sound DOES NOT MATTER (within the law of course :3).
Focus on how it interacts with PEOPLE. All that matters is what hits your ear drum and how it is perceived. I honestly wished someone told me about psyco-acoustics a while back. After reading about it, the way I approached mixing and mastering totally changed. Just remember people are your targets with music and what you hear is all in your brain. Manipulating the way people think using sound is why music works
. You will be very surprised with what you can do with just an EQ and a compressor. Never underestimate those two tools and never think that you need the best equipment to make amazing music. I have seen people do great recordings with a phone...seriously. I am also a VERY novice drummer, pianist and guitarist. I was never enthusiastic to practice with my instruments. Learning an instrument is great and very useful, but not required. A little music theory is also good to know. Timing and tuning matters above all in most cases. I say so very loosely however, as you need not go by the book. Basically, if it feels good, it IS good. Don't over compensate.
Finally, as a producer I liked to experiment a lot. I'd say half the time I end up with garbage but I have a rule that I think anyone with hard drive space should live by: Never Delete. Two years down the line I have found old projects I sampled to make a totally different beat. Or perhaps I will never appreciate the sound, but another artiste will come along and embrace it. Its fun to mess around with weird sounds especially when you end up in these "ruts" as a producer, unable to create anything satisfactory. Me and a colleague of mine made a beat by recording an old Yamaha keyboard through an akg dynamic mic while I ate an apple. Do unexpected things; that's what the industry expects but its not what people tell you. Over time you will develop your sound not just as a producer but a sound engineer. Its also important to learn about your equipment and read up on as much as you can relating to the field. Don't be scared to make mistakes though...sometimes being "wrong" will result in something that sounds epic.
And yes, yes, practice, practice, practice. To be honest I hardly think of practicing when I am making music with my friends or mixing a song for another artiste. When you are having fun, you forget that you are working.
(PS. Turn your volume down...your ears are so precious. Mastering especially requires a sensitive ear. I can mix songs at 2% volume that others can't even hear. So of course it helps to have a quiet place to mix whenever possible.)
Happy mixing
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I'mNoGuru
New member
I think for the majority of home-based producers a better 'first thing' to learn is simple sample selection.
My best mixes are the ones that needed very little EQ.
If a sound 'needs' EQ can it be swapped out for a sound that doesn't?
Does it 'need' to be there at all?
If I do decide to EQ it tends to be subtractive... If I'm trying to 'add' to the sound; it's the wrong sound.
How many kick drums does the average producer have?
I dunno about you but I've got well over 100 (probably more like 300+)... Many of them have already been processed with EQ and compression (among other things) by people much more talented in the realms of sound design than me.
By doing a RIDICULOUS amount of research on these forums... I mean, for a good 4-5 years I was up every night reading about a new topic, or re-reading a topic I thought I understood but didn't. Asking myself tons of questions and looking up the answers, which would lead me to new questions that I didn't think to think about. What's parallel compression? What's aliasing? Subtractive EQ? Comb filtering? Phase inversion? What's the ratio knob do? What happens after the threshold is reached? Why isn't mine as loud as others but I'm clipping? Wtf? More knowledge! That was me every night.
... and recommendations from forum members here and actually trying what they said word for word to see what happened
.... and by getting bludgeoned by a few board members here to be put in my place and force me to understand that I know NOTHING and really need to be a student and be humble.
After that, it was practice in live situations and using the knowledge I acquired to achieve my goal... which really meant wiping my brain clean and deleting what I thought mixing meant, and relearning it in a "purity of sound" type of way. Record/arrange the song great and fight to maintain it's greatness. If it's not great... fix only the bad parts. If there's too many bad parts.... it has no hope, re-record. Never try to "enhance" anything.... it doesn't work like that. If the thump isn't there, it isn't there.
... and recommendations from forum members here and actually trying what they said word for word to see what happened
.... and by getting bludgeoned by a few board members here to be put in my place and force me to understand that I know NOTHING and really need to be a student and be humble.
After that, it was practice in live situations and using the knowledge I acquired to achieve my goal... which really meant wiping my brain clean and deleting what I thought mixing meant, and relearning it in a "purity of sound" type of way. Record/arrange the song great and fight to maintain it's greatness. If it's not great... fix only the bad parts. If there's too many bad parts.... it has no hope, re-record. Never try to "enhance" anything.... it doesn't work like that. If the thump isn't there, it isn't there.
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In a nutshell...
I realized that if my mixing isn't on par with major studios, it's b/c I have a problem. Because we are both human beings with the same capabilities... and I technically should be capable of making the exact same mixing decisions as someone else would and get the same result... b/c a knob doesn't give a flying f--k who turns it. So... if I'm not up to par, there's a problem that needs to be fixed.
Here were some of my problems and the solutions I concluded:
My mixes aren't good enough --> study
I just posted a song and didn't know it was clipping but everyone else did and said it sounded horrible --> learn what to listen for by studying other songs closely, upgrade monitors, upgrade DA conversion
Everything sounded jumbled together --> learn how to cut away freqs w/ EQ
Can't clearly hear my voice --> learn what compression is really doing, and how to sit my voice in the mix w/ subtractive EQ and panning other sounds.
Drums don't knock --> pick better drums... EQ the parts I like most, duck the bass under the kick so the thump shines thru
My songs are not loud, but they're clipping -> learn to use vu meters b/c my ears aren't good enough, allow bus compression and limiter to do the dirty work for me, b/c I'll never nail it with volume automation.. but, I have to feed these things a signal that isn't already pushing the red line.
Voices always need to be de-essed --> change mic, get a better de-esser for just in case situations.
Not sure what to use to mix --> research plugins, downsize the toolbox and learn what I have inside out.
Once you fix all your problems, you should by default be pumping out stellar mixes. I still have improvements to make before I can get there... mainly w/ my ears. I still don't hear all of the issues that someone else would hear that require adjustment. And I don't put enough "time" and creativity into making things sound "huge" like professionals do. I need to become to person who will sit there and bang my hand on a desk several times until I get the big boom thump I wanted w/ my kick, and having the patience to layer things.
I realized that if my mixing isn't on par with major studios, it's b/c I have a problem. Because we are both human beings with the same capabilities... and I technically should be capable of making the exact same mixing decisions as someone else would and get the same result... b/c a knob doesn't give a flying f--k who turns it. So... if I'm not up to par, there's a problem that needs to be fixed.
Here were some of my problems and the solutions I concluded:
My mixes aren't good enough --> study
I just posted a song and didn't know it was clipping but everyone else did and said it sounded horrible --> learn what to listen for by studying other songs closely, upgrade monitors, upgrade DA conversion
Everything sounded jumbled together --> learn how to cut away freqs w/ EQ
Can't clearly hear my voice --> learn what compression is really doing, and how to sit my voice in the mix w/ subtractive EQ and panning other sounds.
Drums don't knock --> pick better drums... EQ the parts I like most, duck the bass under the kick so the thump shines thru
My songs are not loud, but they're clipping -> learn to use vu meters b/c my ears aren't good enough, allow bus compression and limiter to do the dirty work for me, b/c I'll never nail it with volume automation.. but, I have to feed these things a signal that isn't already pushing the red line.
Voices always need to be de-essed --> change mic, get a better de-esser for just in case situations.
Not sure what to use to mix --> research plugins, downsize the toolbox and learn what I have inside out.
Once you fix all your problems, you should by default be pumping out stellar mixes. I still have improvements to make before I can get there... mainly w/ my ears. I still don't hear all of the issues that someone else would hear that require adjustment. And I don't put enough "time" and creativity into making things sound "huge" like professionals do. I need to become to person who will sit there and bang my hand on a desk several times until I get the big boom thump I wanted w/ my kick, and having the patience to layer things.
